Gaylord Diaz's Blog

5. Judas’ Suicide

 Matthew 27:3-5, Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, {4} Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.  And they said,  What is that to us? see thou to that. {5} And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

MISTAKE. Judas, like the rest of the apostles, never believed or expected that Jesus would die. When Judas saw that Jesus was condemned to die because of his treachery he was remorseful and he went to the chief priests. For what purpose? (1)  To return the money that the chief  priests gave him to deliver Jesus into their hands. The gesture, back then, was the same as saying, “let’s call our deal off. Here’s your money back. Let Jesus go.” (2) He confessed his guilt in bringing Jesus before the Court. And (3) he confessed Jesus’ innocence.

Judas’ confession here is hugely significant because, in the eyes of Hebrew Law, this confession would have reversed the Court’s death penalty and set Jesus free. You see, whenever a witness stepped forward to testify to the innocence of the accused the Court was obliged to hear him. The Court may have already passed sentence against the accused. The accused might already be on his way to execution. But as long as the accused was alive the Court was obliged to halt everything and bring the accused back before the Court. In fact, the law required all the judges to remain in their seats while the accused was being escorted to execution. They were to stay in Court just in case a witness steps forward and presents evidence for the innocence of the accused. The court took every measure to prevent killing an innocent man. If the testimony of the last-minute witness was deemed true or reliable by the Court, the Court would immediately release the accused. So what Judas is doing here is he’s seeking Jesus’ freedom and release. He’s pleading to save Jesus’ life!

What Judas does here is admirable and commendable. He’s trying to undo what he’s done. He’s trying to make amends for his wrong. He’s trying to get things right. That’s all good and right. But THE ONE THING YOU CAN’T DO IS TURN THE CLOCK BACK AND UNDO WHAT YOU’VE ALREADY DONE. WHAT’S DONE IS DONE AND YOU CAN’T UNDO THAT. You can make amends or restitution. You can confess your sin, express your remorse, ask for forgiveness, and get it. You can pay the legal punishments for your crime. But YOU CAN’T UNDO WHAT YOU’VE ALREADY DONE.

How Judas must have wished he had never betrayed the Lord! If only he hadn’t, things would have been so much different for him. He would have had a life and a future if only he didn’t strike his bargain with the priests. But, alas, it was too late. He committed a sin and he couldn’t undo that sin or stop the consequences of that sin from coming to pass.

Brethren, LIVE LIFE WITHOUT REGRETS.How do you do that? Simple! DON’T DO THINGS YOU’LL LATER ON REGRET.

THE LESSON.  Notice that Judas returned the entire sum of money that he got for betraying the Lord. He loved money so much that he betrayed his Lord for it. But the money that he thought would buy him happiness bought him, or  brought  him, no such happiness. What he lusted after, and got, now filled him  with remorse and regret.  He never got  to spend, or enjoy, a single cent!   The money that he wanted so much, and got, now meant nothing to him.

Friends, you could live your life for the sin that you presently harbor and hide. It could be money. Pornography. Illicit sexual relationships and love affairs. An addiction to nicotine,  drugs, alcohol. What is it that you’re hiding? What is it that you’re so much in love with? Listen. SIN WASN’T MEANT TO MAKE YOU HAPPY! IT WAS MEANT TO KILL YOU—just like it ended up killing Judas. THE THINGS YOU LOVE NOW YOU’LL LATER COME TO HATE OR REGRET. IT WON’T GIVE YOU THE HAPPINESS YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD. INSTEAD, THE SIN THAT YOU LOVE WILL FILL YOU WITH SORROW AND REGRET.

The Devil, dear friends, is out to kill and damn as many people as he can. And he does that by making sin look so good, advantageous, fun, pleasurable, innocent, and small.

Brethren, don’t minimize the smallness or seeming innocence of your sin. People justify their sins with the self-deluding notion that it isn’t a big deal, they’re not hurting anyone, they’re not committing a crime, it’s not really a sin. But it is a sin. No matter how small or trivial a sin you think it is, sin is still sin. And SIN UNREPENTED OF WILL KILL YOU. Brethren, JUDAS LOST HIS LIFE AND SOUL OVER ONE SEEMINGLY SMALL AND INNOCENT SIN! JUDAS’ LOVE OF MONEY ENDED UP KILLING HIM.

Whoever imagined that the love of money would lead to murder and suicide? Judas never imagined that his hidden sin would end the way it did—in Jesus’ death and his own.

Sin, as I said, wasn’t meant to make you happy.  It was meant  to  kill  you.  SIN THAT YOU DON’T FORSAKE OR REPENT OF WILL EVENTUALLY AND ULTIMATELY KILL YOU—if not physically, then spiritually. In many instances, as it was in Judas’ case, sin kills you both physically and spiritually.

Every sin, regardless of its size or severity leaves you guilty in the sight of God. Every sin, no matter how small or minor you think it is, carries a price. You will pay the penalty for every sin that you leave undealt with, unconfessed, and unrepented. YOU CAN’T COMMIT A SIN—OR KEEP ON COMMITTING A SIN—WITHOUT PAYING THE PENALTY FOR THAT SIN! AS LONG AS YOU’RE   UNREPENTANT   YOU  CAN’T  GET OUT OF SUFFERING THE CONSEQUENCES, PENALTY, JUDGMENT, AND PUNISHMENT OF SIN NO MATTER HOW SMALL, INSIGNIFICANT, MINOR, OR TRIVIAL YOU THINK IT MIGHT BE.

In closing, let me say as emphatically as I can, no one–no sin, no love, no lust, no person, no thing–is worth going to Hell over. A single second in Hell will resound this undeniable, unarguable truth. A fleeting moment of sin’s enjoyment is not worth an endless torment of sin’s punishment. Friend, give up the sin and turn to Christ. Don’t let this opportunity to be forgiven and saved escape you today. You may not have tomorrow. May God help you–may He help us all–forsake sin and serve Christ.

4. Judas’ Remorse

 Matthew 27:3-4, Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, {4} Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.

THE MISTAKE & THE LESSON. It appears from the written text that Judas didn’t mean for Jesus to die. All he wanted was to get Jesus arrested in exchange for money. But he didn’t expect the chief priests to put Him to death. You see, things didn’t go as Judas had planned. Things didn’t turn out the way Judas thought they would.

Brethren, you may have your life of sin all planned out. This is what you’re going to do. This is how you’re going to live. And after that, you’re going to live happily ever after. Friends, it doesn’t work like this! WHEN YOU GIVE YOURSELF TO SIN THE ONLY THING YOU’RE GIVING YOURSELF IS A FUTURE OF PAIN, SUFFERING, AND REGRET.

Judas didn’t think that Jesus would be killed! He didn’t want to see the Lord condemned and put to death. But that’s exactly what happened! It is both a tragic, and a graphic, lesson to us that SIN HAS CONSEQUENCES AND THESE CONSEQUENCES ARE BEYOND YOUR CONTROL. YOU CAN’T CHOOSE WHAT THESE CONSEQUENCES WILL BE AND YOU CAN’T STOP THESE CONSEQUENCES FROM HAPPENING.

THE ONLY CHOICE YOU HAVE IS TO SIN OR NOT SIN. IF YOU CHOOSE TO SIN, YOU CAN CHOOSE WHAT KIND OF SIN YOU’RE GOING TO COMMIT. BUT ONCE YOU’VE CHOSEN TO SIN, YOU CAN’T CHOOSE WHAT WILL HAPPEN AS A RESULT OF YOUR SIN. Things will happen that you didn’t want to happen, didn’t plan to happen, didn’t expect to happen, or didn’t think would happen.

SIN’S CONSEQUENCES OR RESULTS ARE BEYOND  YOUR  CONTROL!  IF  YOU  DON’T WANT THESE CONSEQUENCES TO HAPPEN, IF YOU DON’T WANT THE UNDESIRABLE AND THE UNTHINKABLE TO HAPPEN, THEN DON’T SIN! YOU WILL NOT REAP SIN’S CONSEQUENCES, YOU WILL NOT SUFFER THE PAINS AND REGRETS OF SIN, IF YOU DON’T SIN!

THE MISTAKE & LESSON.  Notice in the text of Scripture that Judas was remorseful. He now recognized what he did—he betrayed an innocent Man. He confessed his sin. And he was sorry for what he did. He even went so far as to return the thirty pieces of silver. But in his sorrow for sin, Judas didn’t repent! It’s important for you to recognize this fact because the KJV gives us the impression that he repented. But that is not the case.

There are two basic words for repent in the Greek New Testament. The first is metánoia. It means to change one’s mind and go in another direction. This is the repentance that we are most familiar with. It’s the kind of repentance that’s required for salvation and the forgiveness of sin. The other word for repentance is metaméllomai. It speaks of sorrow, regret, and remorse. This is the Greek word that’s used here with respect to Judas.

Now SORROW AND REMORSE ARE A NECESSARY PART OF TRUE REPENTANCE. BUT THEY ARE NOT THE  SAME  THING  AS REPENTANCE. It’s like apple pie. You need dough and apples to make apple pie. But just because you’ve got dough and apples doesn’t mean you’ve got apple pie. You need to roll the dough, put it in a pie pan, then peel and slice your apples, put them in the pie pan, put a crust over it, then bake it before you have your apple pie.

It’s the same way with repentance. Sorrow and remorse are a part of repentance, but they’re not the same thing as actually repenting of sin. You can feel sorry about fornicating without ever changing your mind about fornication. You feel sorry because you know it’s wrong and it’s sin. You feel sorry because you were caught in fornication. But you’ll continue to fornicate because you just haven’t yet changed your mind about fornication! You haven’t given up your love, desire, and intention to fornicate again.

Do you see what I mean?  YOU CAN BE SORRY YOU SINNED AND STILL NOT REPENT FOR THAT  SIN. JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE SORRY DOESN’T MEAN YOU’RE REPENTANT!

Judas was genuinely and sincerely sorry for what he did. But his remorse didn’t bring him to the Lord! All he would have had to do to receive the Lord’s forgiveness was go to the Lord, apologize, and ask for His forgiveness. And do you know what? Jesus would have forgiven him! Jesus forgives those who truly repent of their sins.

The thing that I find so tragic here is, instead  of  going  to  the  Lord,  Judas  went  to  the  priests. If he had only apologized to the Lord—instead of to the priests—his end would have been different!

Learn a lesson here, dear friends. SORROW FOR SIN IS A GOOD THING. BUT IT DOESN’T DO YOU ANY GOOD IF IT DOESN’T LEAD YOU TO REPENTANCE. YOU OUGHT TO FEEL SORRY. BUT GOD WANTS MORE THAN JUST YOUR REMORSE: HE WANTS YOUR REPENTANCE! FEEL SORRY ALL YOU WANT. CRY ALL THE TEARS YOU WANT. BUT IF YOU DON’T CHANGE YOUR MIND ABOUT YOUR SIN, IF YOU DON’T QUIT SINNING; ALL THE TEARS AND SORROW IN THE WORLD WILL NOT GET YOU GOD’S FORGIVENESS!

To bring this lesson home, consider this sobering truth: Judas never made it to Heaven in spite of the fact that he was sorry! Jesus said in Matthew 26:24, The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It had been good for that man if he had not been born. Judas died a grieved, sorrowful man filled with remorse and regret. But he didn’t go to Heaven because he didn’t go to the Lord. His remorse didn’t lead him to repentance. He was remorseful, but not repentant.

Friends, don’t  fool  yourself and play games with God because your soul is on the line. JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE SORRY DOESN’T MEAN THE LORD’S GOING TO FEEL SORRY FOR YOU AND FORGIVE YOU! THE LORD DIDN’T FORGIVE JUDAS IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT JUDAS WAS SORRY! WHY? BECAUSE JUDAS NEVER REPENTED!

YOU’VE GOT TO REPENT IN ORDER TO BE FORGIVEN. BELOVED, DON’T THINK THAT REMORSE IS ENOUGH TO BE FORGIVEN. IT ISN’T! YOU’VE GOT TO GIVE UP THE SIN AND TURN AWAY FROM IT IF YOU WANT THE LORD TO FORGIVE YOU. NO REPENTANCE, NO FORGIVENESS. PERIOD.

Coming Up On My Next Blog Post, The 5^th & Final Installment. Sin will eventually kill you if you don’t give it up. Judas’ sin took his life. It’s such a tragic end to a man who was privileged to spend a few years so close to the Lord. Don’t miss out on these final life-saving lessons!

3. Judas’ Betrayal Of The Lord

 Matthew 26:47-49, And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. {48} Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. {49} And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.

THE MISTAKE & LESSON. It was night out, approaching midnight, and the arresting party needed help in identifying Jesus. So the prearranged sign was whoever Judas kissed would be the Lord.

Now when Judas kissed the Lord Matthew uses the intensive form of the verb, which is to say, he kissed the Lord earnestly and fervently. The implication of the text is that Judas didn’t just kiss the Lord once, but rather, kissed Him over and over again. Here was a display of great affection  and  respect.  If you didn’t know what was going on or what was about to happen you would likely conclude that Judas must have really loved the Lord. But behind this façade of affection and love was treachery and betrayal.

You see, brethren, you can put on a show of great spirituality. By your conduct you can give people the impression that you’re really a good person. You can sing the loudest and talk knowledgeably of the Scriptures in such a way that people can’t help but conclude that you really have a close walk with the Lord. But, like Judas, YOU CAN ACT LIKE A TRUE CHRISTIAN AND STILL BE DOING THE DEVIL’S BUSINESS!

Here’s something else for you to consider. If you piece the Gospel records together you’ll see that there was a lapse of two days from the time Judas agreed to betray the Lord and the time he actually betrayed Him in the garden. In other words, Judas had two whole days to change his mind about betraying the Lord. Two days to look honestly at himself and ponder the ramifications of what he was about to do. Two days to be convicted and remorseful. Two days to back out of betraying the Lord. But, instead of repenting of his treachery, Judas looked for every opportunity to betray the Lord, Matthew 26:16. Judas was set in his avarice and nothing, or no one, was going to talk him out of betraying the Lord.

Brethren, WHEN YOU’VE GOT YOUR MIND MADE UP THAT YOU’RE GOING TO SIN, LIKE JUDAS, YOU’RE ONLY GIVING YOURSELF THE SADDEST, DARKEST, MOST PAINFUL, MOST REGRETTABLE DAYS OF YOUR LIFE. THE WORST IS YET TO COME! AND, LIKE JUDAS, YOU WILL NOT ENJOY THE LIFE THAT YOU’VE CHOSEN FOR YOURSELF.

Friend, this is your wake-up call from the Lord. Deliver yourself from a dark future and sad life by repenting right now and getting your life right with the Lord! YOU CANNOT SIN AND EXPECT NOT TO SUFFER SIN’S CONSEQUENCES, REGRETS, AND JUDGMENT. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap (Galatians 6:7.) If you think you can sin and not go to Hell, then you’re already deceived. God’s no fool. He makes no idle threats. And you can never, you will never ever, prove Him wrong. SIN WILL KILL YOU. Stay tuned and I’ll show you how sin killed Judas.

Coming Up On My Next Blog Post, Part 4. You can be sorry for what you did, but that doesn’t mean you’re repentant. Drop by and I’ll show you the difference.

2. JUDAS’ DEAL TO BETRAY THE LORD

 Matthew 26:14-16, Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, {15} And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.  30 silver shekels is the equivalent of 120 denarii or roughly $21.60 today. The exchange rate, however, is not this accurate. As I pointed out earlier, a denarius is the amount of money that a common laborer made for a day’s work.  If we want to bring that denarius up to today’s standards, let’s suppose that a common laborer today makes $8 an hour and works 8 hours a day. A day’s wage, then, would be $64 and this, roughly speaking, is what an ancient denarius would be worth today.  Since 30 silver shekels is 120 denarii, then its real equivalent in today’s wages is $7,680. {16} And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

THE MISTAKE. The Scriptures do not come outright and give us the exact reason why Judas chose to betray the Lord. But judging by what he asked the chief priests, indications are rather strong that greed, or money, was what motivated Judas to betray the Lord.

Judas, as I said, had a sin problem. And this one sin, left undealt with, created more problems for him. One sin led to another. And the more sin is committed the more serious it becomes. The sin of thievery led to the sin of betrayal. The love of money now brought him into league with murderers. Judas’ love affair with money now goes beyond the realm of money: it will cost the Lord His life. The taking of money now involves the taking of a human life.

One sin left undealt with and unrepented of  leads to more sins. This is the problem with committing just one more sin. Just one more time. You don’t stop with just one sin. Just one more time. Sin is addictive. The more you sin the more you’ll continue to sin and the more addicted you become to it. Like any addiction, you can’t stop. And you can’t help yourself.  A sin addiction is, in reality, demonic oppression. You become the Devil’s slave. To do his bidding. To sin as often as he tempts and drives you to sin.

There comes a definite point in time, unknown to you, when your persistence in sin becomes an opened invitation or right-of-way where Satan comes insides you and oppresses, controls, or possesses you. Luke 22:3-5 tells us, Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. {4} And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them. {5} And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money.

Brethren, IF YOU SIN AND LIVE LIKE THE DEVIL, THE DEVIL WILL OPPRESS YOU AND YOU’LL COME UNDER HIS DEMONIC CONTROL. You’ll become his slave. And you’ll end up doing his bidding. You think you’re free. But you’re serving the Devil, he’s your master, and you’re doing what he wants you to do.

THE LESSON. Brethren, don’t maintain your love affair with sin because you’ll open the door to demonic oppression if you haven’t already done so. And once  that  door  is  open,  you  become  a  slave  to  Satan  and  THE ONLY WAY TO GET FREE FROM HIM IS THROUGH AN ACT OF REPENTANCE AND DELIVERANCE.

BRETHREN, YOU CAN’T ESCAPE THE DEVIL AS LONG AS YOU’RE IN LEAGUE WITH HIM! AS LONG AS YOU LOVE YOUR SIN AND CONTINUE IN SIN, THERE IS NO FREEDOM FOR YOU. FREEDOM WILL COME WHEN YOU TURN FROM YOUR SIN, GIVE IT UP, AND CRY TO THE LORD FOR FORGIVENESS AND DELIVERANCE.

Judas betrayed the Lord for thirty pieces of silver. By today’s standards, that’s about $7,700. Brethren, how much is a sin or a lust worth to you? How much are you willing to pay, and suffer, to enjoy the pleasures of sin? Are you willing to go to Hell for $7,700? Would you spend eternity burning and screaming in Hell’s fire for a measly $7,700?

Jesus asks us in Matthew 16:26, What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? This word exchange is an interesting one. It denotes equivalence. You ransom, trade, or exhange something for something else that’s roughly equal in value. For example, you wouldn’t trade a 2011 Honda for a 2000 Escort because they’re not worth the same; you’ll be losing out on the trade. You wouldn’t trade a $350,000 house for a dilapidated shack at the edge of town. When you trade or exchange, you want to get something of equal, maybe even greater, value than what you’re giving up.

This whole world with all its riches and wealth is not worth as much as the value of your soul! You may not see, understand, or agree with that right now. But, believe me, a moment in Hell will tell the truth: there’s nothing on this Earth that’s worth spending eternity in Hell. A trillion dollars, all the booze and drugs, all the sex and filth that this world has to offer; will mean absolutely nothing to you once you’re in Hell. All you’ll want is out. And if not that, you’ll crave a glass of water to quench your indescribable thirst or a massive dose of morphine to numb the pain you’ll feel every second of every hour of every year for time without time. No, my friends. There’s nothing worth more than the value of your soul.

What are you willing to do to escape eternal judgment and suffering in Hell? Here’s what the Lord wants you to do. (1) Confess your hidden sin or lust. (2) Repent of it. (3) Get delivered so that you’re no longer compelled to sin and no longer enslaved by that demon and lust. And (4) bring forth fruits of repentance and deliverance by living a holy life and abstaining from sin.

Coming Up On My Next Blog Post, Part 3. Judas was determined to sin. And, unknown to him, he was setting himself up for the biggest regret of his life.

INTRODUCTION

One of the things that we parents do is teach and instruct our children. We teach them what’s wrong and what’s right. We teach them to do right. To live right. To believe right. Why do we teach them? Because we love them. We care very deeply about them. And we don’t want them to make wrong decisions that will hurt them or get them into trouble. We don’t want to see them suffer. So we do everything within our power to keep them from getting burned or hurt.

Our Father God is the same way with us. He loves us deeply. So deeply that He sacrificed His Son on the cross so that we can be saved. Since the day we got saved, God’s set Himself to teaching us a lot of things. He’s doing everything He can to make sure we make it to Heaven and stay out of Hell’s fires.

Now God has many ways of teaching us. He uses different methods that are best suited to each person’s style of learning.

•  Some people learn best by teaching or  instruction. A sermon or Bible study is all they need to learn the lesson and live by it.
•   Others learn best by example. They look at what other people did and they learn to either do the same thing or else not do it.
•  And others learn best in the school of hard knocks. No matter how much or how hard you try and tell them, they just won’t listen. They’ll go ahead and make their own decision. Alas, they find out the hard way that their way was the wrong way.

Today we want to learn some very valuable life lessons by example. In the Bible, some people, like Abraham and Moses, set a good example for us to follow or copy. Other people, like Korah or Demas, set a bad example. But even though they set a bad example, their names and deeds are written in Scripture so that we can learn from their mistakes and not duplicate or repeat them.

One person who made big time  wrong decisions is Judas Iscariot. Judas, as you know, was one of the Lord’s twelve apostles. It was he who betrayed the Lord and set in motion the events that ultimately culminated in Jesus’ death. The brief Scriptural record of his life is filled with grief and tragedy, but  it’s also rich in lessons that we must learn.

You see, human nature being what it is, we are not a whole lot unlike Judas Iscariot. You might disagree with me on this point and that’s fine. But I hope to show you the Judas that’s in a lot of us as we go through these blog posts. We all have something to learn from Judas’ mistakes. So let’s begin by looking at five stages in Judas’ demise.

1. Judas’ Objection To Mary’s Use Of Ointment

John 12:1-6, Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. {2} There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. {3} Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. {4} Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him, {5} Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?

A denarius, or pence, is worth about 18¢ today. Three hundred denarii, then, would amount to $54. That would be expensive ointment even by today’s standards.

But the exchange rate is not as accurate as this. You see, a single denarius was the average wage a common laborer made for a day’s work. If we want to bring that denarius up to today’s standards, let’s suppose that a common laborer today makes $8 an hour and works 8 hours a day. A day’s wage, then, would be $64. This, roughly speaking, is what an ancient denarius would be worth today. Now if we multiply this single denarius by 300, which is what Judas wanted the sell the ointment for, then the ointment that Mary used on our Lord was worth $19,200!

That, dear brethren, is an expensive and extravagant gift of ointment! No wonder why Judas and the rest of the apostles were outraged by what Mary did (Matthew 26:8-9, Mark 14:4-5). If someone here today used over $19,000 worth of ointment or perfume to anoint someone’s feet, wouldn’t you be indignant and critical of this seemingly senseless waste of ointment? I dare say you would! I guess we’re not a whole lot unlike Judas.

{6} This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

THE MISTAKE. The Bible’s first-recorded words of Judas Iscariot were his objection to Mary’s use of a very costly ointment to anoint the feet of our Lord. The ointment could have been sold for over $19,000 in today’s money and the money given to the poor.

Judas’ interest, however, was not in helping the poor, but rather, in helping himself. You see, Judas had the bag. He was the treasurer of the apostolic company. Whenever people donated money to the Lord and the apostles, the money would be put in a single, common, money bag. As treasurer, Judas carried the money bag. He was in charge of the money. Whenever the apostolic company needed to buy things, pay for services, or give money to the poor; Judas was the fellow who made these purchases and forked over the dough (John 13:29).

Unfortunately, Judas was not only the apostolic treasurer, but he was also a thief (John 12:6). Being the thief that he was, Judas regularly stole money out of the bag for his own selfish use or gain.

His objection to Mary’s extravagant use, or waste, of this precious ointment was motivated by the fact that, had this ointment been sold for over $19,000 he could have pocketed quite a bit of this money for himself and still have some money left over to give to the poor. Judas lost an opportunity to enrich himself quite handsomely! And he was mad!

JUDAS HAD A SIN PROBLEM. It was a love, or lust, for money. And this lust caused him to steal money from our Lord. Apparently, Judas hid his sin quite well because no one knew, or even suspected, that Judas was the rotten apple among them. It wasn’t until after Judas’ death that the Lord brought Judas’ sin to light so that by the time John wrote his Gospel account he could look back at what Mary did and understand the real reason for Judas’ vociferous objection: he objected because he lost a golden opportunity to pocket a whole lot of money for himself.

Judas, I am saying, had a sin problem. And INSTEAD OF DEALING WITH HIS AVARICE, INSTEAD OF TURNING AWAY FROM HIS GREED, HE NURTURED AND HID THAT SIN. He hid it so well that none of the other apostles were aware of his sin.

THE LESSON? Brethren, BEWARE OF WHAT SINS, LUSTS, ADDICTIONS, WEAKNESSES, OR HABITS, YOU HARBOR AND HIDE. Numbers 32:23 warns and assures us, be sure your sin will find you out. You can’t hide your sin forever. Sooner or later, you will be caught. You will be exposed. You won’t get away with it. God Himself will see to that. As Judas was consequently exposed as a thief, so you will be too. You can be sure of that!

Sin is like fire: it’ll burn you. Proverbs 6:27 asks us,  Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? When you toy with sin you will be burned! You might enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, but be assured of this one thing: SIN UNREPENTED OF WILL EVENTUALLY KILL YOU—SPIRITUALLY, ETERNALLY, PERHAPS EVEN PHYSICALLY. Brethren, YOU’RE ONLY HURTING YOURSELF—NOT TO MENTION OTHERS—WHEN YOU NURTURE YOUR LOVE OR LUST FOR SIN.

Harboring a hidden sin inside you is like carrying a grenade around. The only thing of it is, the pin has already been pulled and it’s only a matter of time before that grenade goes off and kills you. Your job as a Christian is to get rid of that grenade. For some, the grenade has been ticking away for a number of years and your time is just about up. The grenade is about to go off. And you don’t have a whole lot of time left to make your mind up. You’ve played with sin long enough and the Lord’s giving you what might well be your last chance to save yourself. Be assured of this one thing. If you choose to hold on the grenade of sin, you will be killed.

Brethren, extinguish the fires of your lusts so that you don’t end up in Hell’s fires. THE PROBLEMS IN YOUR LIFE WILL NOT BE RESOLVED OR REMEDIED UNTIL YOU BRING  THEM  OUT IN THE OPEN, ADMIT YOU’VE GOT PROBLEMS, THEN WORK TO GET RID OF THOSE PROBLEMS. You may need help. So get it! THE PROBLEMS IN YOUR LIFE AREN’T GOING TO GO AWAY BY THEMSELVES. THEY’LL GO WHEN YOU PUT THEM AWAY. THEY’LL END WHEN YOU TERMINATE YOUR LOVE AFFAIR WITH SIN.

Coming Up On My Next Blog Post, Part 2. The problem with committing one sin is you don’t stop with just one. One sin leads to more. Sin is addictive. Drop by for a visit next time and I’ll show you.